alt Hacker NewsI have to have my machine further crippled in order protect people who don't know what they're doing on a computer.
I don't think there's anything wrong with people not knowing how to use a computer properly. In fact, I wouldn't expect a normal person to, why should they? So what I would love to see is normies be given iPads, and my computer left the hell alone.
It's like if we over-simplified all the controls in a cockpit because someone who likes playing flying games finds it too difficult to fly a real plane.
We've had a solution to this for a long time in various programs - let the user tell the application how much they know. By default, settings are extremely limited, but you can change settings to "advanced" or "expert", and more options/settings become available.
There is no reason this couldn't work for permissions as well; beginners get the system locked down pretty well, whereas advanced users get a more open system they can do more with, at the expense of potential foot-guns)
(As a side note, we could probably make a plane that had this principle applied as well. With autopilot where it is today, we could easily make a commercial plane that grandma could fly under most circumstances - you just need that real pilot and extra controls for when things go wrong.)